Scope to upgrade Singapore-Japan air services agreement: Josephine Teo

There is scope to upgrade the air services agreement between Singapore and Japan, including expanding opportunities for airlines in Singapore to use Japanese airports as a transit point for outbound flights, said senior minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo Monday. One reason for this, according to Teo, is that since the last time the air services agreement between the two countries was updated in 2012, slot capacity at the airports in Japan have improved. “We also know that Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has set a target for the tourism arrivals into Japan to double from the current 20m to 40m by 2020,” said Teo. Japanese airports like Narita have seen transit traffic decrease in recent years – from a high of 21% in 2009 to 18% in 2014 – as they face competition from other Asian air hubs, including airports in China. <br/>